King Mswati III of Swaziland (which he now prefers to name eSwatini) guidelines over a rustic in deep political and financial disaster.
He ascended to the throne in 1986 after a disputed choice course of carried out by a strong cabal led by Prince Mfanasibili and the Liqoqo (king’s advisory council), throughout the interregnum following King Sobhuza II’s dying.
As a younger crown prince, Makhosetive Dlamini was despatched to the UK to be educated and groomed for management. However as an alternative of making ready for the tasks forward, he gained a fame for truancy and a keenness for squash over research. At this time, King Mswati presides over a nation in misery — one wracked by repression and inequality.
Mswati is internationally infamous for his opulence: a number of wives, palaces, a fleet of luxurious automobiles, two customised jets and a lavish way of life supported by one of the crucial unequal economies on this planet.
His private extravagance stands in stark distinction to the poverty of the 1.2 million folks he guidelines over — topics, somewhat than residents, beneath an absolute monarchy.
As of 2023, roughly 59% of the inhabitants lives beneath the poverty line, with 29% experiencing excessive poverty. The unemployment price has surged to 35%, with youth unemployment alarmingly excessive at 56% as of March 2023.
Beneath his rule, Swaziland has turn into a non-public property for the royal household. With sweeping govt, legislative and judicial powers, the king holds an estimated 90% stake within the nationwide economic system. He’s listed by Forbes as having a private fortune of round $200 million.
Though this wealth is formally held “in belief” for the nation, in actuality it’s used nearly solely for the advantage of the royal family. He maintains monetary pursuits in all main sectors of the economic system, whereas the inhabitants sinks deeper into poverty.
In 2014, King Mswati flew in American singer Erykah Badu to carry out at his forty sixth birthday celebration. On 19 April, he’ll mark his 57th birthday. As soon as once more, public cash will likely be used to stage a lavish celebration.
In the meantime, pensioners have seen their state grants rise by simply R100, at the same time as the price of dwelling continues to climb. Water, electrical energy, gas and different necessities have gotten costlier because the state expands its tax base. The king, in contrast, has seen his wage enhance by R55 million in 2025 alone, bringing the whole price of his repairs to the general public purse to R1.4 billion.
This isn’t merely a matter of inequality. Swaziland is a dictatorship. Political events have been banned for 52 years. Freedom of speech, affiliation and meeting are denied.
The nation is dominated by intimidation and pressure, with the safety providers — and a mercenary contingent stationed close to the capital — deployed to suppress protest. Opposition figures are usually jailed, assassinated or pushed into exile. Impartial journalists are silenced or pressured in a foreign country, most frequently to South Africa, to be able to proceed their work.
The size of repression beneath King Mswati intensified dramatically following mass protests that erupted throughout the nation in 2021 and 2022. Sparked by calls for for democratic reform and justice following the dying of a college pupil by the hands of police, the unrest noticed tens of 1000’s take to the streets in what turned the biggest rebellion in Swaziland’s post-independence historical past.
The regime responded with deadly pressure — dozens of protesters have been killed, lots of injured and lots of extra arrested. Within the aftermath, key leaders of the democratic motion have been focused, harassed and compelled into hiding.
Essentially the most chilling sign of the regime’s intolerance got here in January 2023 with the assassination of Thulani Maseko — a revered human rights lawyer and outspoken critic of the monarchy — who was shot lifeless in his dwelling. Maseko had lengthy warned that significant reform in Swaziland would require sustained worldwide stress on the regime. His killing despatched a transparent message that no dissent can be tolerated.
There may be rising proof that Mswati’s regime has begun constructing a surveillance state to tighten management over dissent. In recent times, experiences have emerged that the federal government has sought to accumulate Israeli-developed cellphone hacking and interception instruments, allegedly with the help of personal companies.
Leaked communications counsel that the king’s son, Prince Sicalo, performed a direct function in efforts to obtain surveillance know-how able to monitoring calls, studying textual content messages and monitoring opposition figures. Whereas the state has denied utilizing military-grade adware, these denials carry little weight given the regime’s lengthy document of repression. The transfer towards digital surveillance marks a brand new part within the monarchy’s marketing campaign to silence dissent and crush calls for for democracy.
And but the area, significantly South Africa, has remained largely passive within the face of those abuses.
Mswati’s authoritarian affect is just not confined to Swaziland. In recent times, he has turn into an more and more disruptive pressure within the area.
In South Africa, his rising affect is seen within the dramatic decline of the ANC, which misplaced its parliamentary majority for the primary time in 2024. It’s extensively believed that the uMkhonto weSizwe occasion, led by former president Jacob Zuma, acquired clandestine help from Mswati.
In September 2024, Mswati took Nomcebo Zuma, the 21-year-old daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, as one among his wives. The wedding adopted a reported lobola of R2 million and 100 cattle.
Many see the union as a calculated transfer to cement a rising political alliance between two figures with a shared curiosity in shielding themselves from accountability.
With Zuma main a reactionary venture in South Africa, and Mswati more and more interfering in regional politics, their private ties are actually entangled with a broader political venture geared toward undermining democratic establishments throughout southern Africa.
South Africa should additionally take duty for enabling Mswati. For many years, the Swazi monarchy has loved the financial buffer offered by South Africa by the Southern African Customs Union, which accounts for over 40% of Swaziland’s nationwide funds. In return, the king has typically acted in ways in which immediately undermine Pretoria’s overseas coverage.
Whereas South Africa expelled the Taiwanese consultant workplace, Swaziland stays the one African nation that recognises Taiwan as an impartial state. Whereas South Africa leads a authorized and diplomatic effort to carry Israel accountable on the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice, Swaziland is making ready to host an Israeli embassy — a direct rebuke to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s authorities.
These aren’t remoted acts. Swaziland is actively in search of a bigger function in continental governance constructions, together with the African Union’s Peace and Safety Council — a physique meant to advertise democratic norms and shield human rights. That such a deeply undemocratic state can search legitimacy by these establishments is alarming.
The world is getting into a interval of profound instability. The worldwide resurgence of far-right populism, particularly beneath the affect of figures like US President Donald Trump, is already reshaping worldwide politics.
In southern Africa, Mswati embodies most of the identical authoritarian tendencies. Whether or not Pretoria will proceed to indulge his behaviour stays to be seen. However one factor is evident — the time for quiet tolerance is over. Confronting the despot subsequent door is now a regional crucial.
Velaphi Mamba is a Swazi political activist and a scholar affiliated with Harvard College.